Artificial hand



' Sept. 1, 1931. H. c. STARKEY ARTIFICIAL HAND Filed July 12, 1929 m ifHa sew-ri e Patented Sept. 1, 1931 ill? STATES HERBERT C. STARKEY, OFCHADRON, NEBRASKA ARTIFICIAL HAND Application filed. July 12, 1929.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterso constructed that it is operable upon placing stress upon aconventional form of shoulder harness. With these and other objects inview, this invention resides in the novel features of construction,formation, combination and ar-. rangement of parts to be hereinaftermore fully described, claimed, and illustrated in.

provided with a curved seat 19, said sea-t cooperating with the arm 9 tohold relathe accompanying drawings, in which: I Figure 1 is a side view.Figure 2 is an edge view. Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 ofFigure 1.

Figure 4- is a'view with one plate'removed,

showing a modified form.

Figure 5 is a view with one plate removed, showing another modification.

The device comprises a sleeve 1 having a lug 2 carried thereby and insaid sleeve is clamping bolt 3 which bolt is adapted to engage thedownturned flanges & of the bracket 5, said bracket being secured in anysuitable manner to the socket 6. The socket (3' is adapted to be placedupon the stump of the arm and forms a part of the usual construction ofthis type. It will be observed that the flanges 4 abut the ends of thesleeve 1 so that when the bolt 3 is clamped these parts will be heldfrictionally connected and are capable of adjustment without looseningthe bolt 3.

A pair of plates 7 is provided and these plates have their upper endsengaged upon opposite sides of the lugs 2, there being a clamping bolt 8passable through the plates and lugs in order to adjustably andfriction.

Serial No. 377,777.

ally secure the plates to said lug. Owing to the presence of the bolts 3and 8 the hand can be conveniently adjusted to various angles.

A pair of arms 9 and 10 are employed, the latter being riveted betweenthe plates 7 while the former is pivotally connected between said platesby a bolt 11, said arms having jarcuate sections 12 and 13 respectively.The terminals of the arcuate sections are provided with lateral fingers'14 and 15, which fingers are normally held in contacting relation.

The arm 9 has fixed thereto, adjacent its pivotal connection, a bar 16to which a cord or cable 17 is attached, said cable leading from aconventionalform of shoulder harness'in order that the arms 9 and 10 canbe opened when desired by imparting stress upon the cord or cable.

The arm 10 has formed integral therewith, a cross bar 18 which has itsfree end tively small objects such as nails, pins or the like, when "thearms are in their closed position. It will be obvious that the seat willpermit the passage of a small article between it and the arm when thearms are spread aparta slight distance and will hold the same firmly.

An elastic band 20 is placed around the arms 9 and 10 and at a pointjust above the bar 18, said band being prevented from slipping uponthe'arm 10 by a staple 21 which is engaged. in the perforations 22formed in said arm, it being obvious that the bar 16 will also preventcreeping of the'band upwardly.

It will be obvious that a small tool, such as a chisel or punch can beconveniently held between. the bar 18 and band 20, it being, of course,understood that thearms are spread before the tool is placedtherebetween.

The arm 10 is formed with perforations 23 while the arm 9 has a singleperforation 24 and it is in these perforations that nails are insertedto hold a rubber band25, indicated in dotted lines inFigure 1 of the. 1M

'L" La of plates, arcuate arms forming a closed ble.

drawings, against slipping upon the arm. It will, of course, beunderstood that the number of perfo 'ations may be varied, as desired.The purpose of this band is to re strict the size of the loop formed bythe arc uate sections of the arms so that a broom handle or similararticle may be held between the arms when the same are in their closedposition.

Obviously, when the band 25 is eliminated, heavy or large tubularobjects or other articles may be conveniently grasped between said arms.

The band 20 not only serves to hold a tool but also normally tends tohold the arms 9 and 10 in their closed position. However, it .will beobvious that said arms will readily expand when stress is applied to thebar 16 to open the arms to permit the same to grip various objects.

Since the fingers 1-1 and 15 are readily separable upon spreading of thearms 9 and 10 they can be effectively used for picking up variousarticles. The fingers are of hooklike formation in order that they maybe used for lifting buckets, suit cases, and the like.

In Figure it, a slightly modified form of the invention is discloseowherein the arms 9 and 10 are both pivotally connected between theplates '7 and have their pivoted ends provided with segmental racks 26which are adapted to mesh so that when one of the arms is swung throughthe medium of the cord or cable the other will be moved simultaneously.

In the modified form shown in Figure 5, the arm 27 is pivotallyconnected between the plates 7 and is provided with a rack segment 28,the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of the rack segment 29 alsopivotally mounted between the plates 2.' The seg-' ment 29 has formedintegral therewith a bar 30 to which is see red the harness cord or ea-In this form of the invention the arm 31 is rigidly sustained.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the operation and many advantagesof the herein described invention will be apparent to those skilled inthe art without further description and it will be understood thatvarious changes in the size, shape, proportion and minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An artificial hand comprising a pair loop, one arm being pivotallyconnected between the plates and the other rigidly secured thereto, asocket member, means for connecting the plates with the member foruniversal adjustment, the free terminals of the arms having lateralfingers thereon, a cross bar carried by one of the arms and cooperatingwith the other arm for gripping articles, and a rubber band engagedaround the arms and performing the dual function of holding the fingersyieldably engaged with each other and cooperating with the bar ingripping articles.

2. An artificial hand comprising a pair of plates, and a pair of arms,one arm being fixed between the plates and the other pivotally mountedtherebetween, a cross bar carried by one arm for cooperation with theother arm for gripping articles,v an elastic band engaged around thearms to hold the same normally closed, said band cooperating with thebar for gripping articles, and a staple engaged with the band and onearm to prevent slipping of the band.

3. An artificial hand comprising a pair of plates, a pair of arcuatearms, both arms being pivoted to the plates and provided withinterineshing gear teeth whereby when one arm is moved the other issimultaneously moved, a cross bar carried by one arm for cooperatingwith the other arm for gripping articles, a rubber band engaged aroundthe arms to hold the same normally closed, said band cooperating withthe bar for gripping articles, and means for securing the band to thearms to prevent slipping of the band.

e. In an artificial hand, a pair of parallel plates, a transverse pivotabout which the plates swing as an axis, a pair of relatively movablearms carried by the plates on opposite sides of the pivot and coaetingwith the plates in forming a closed loop, a cross bar carried by one armand extending across the space between the arms for cooperation with theother arm in gripping articles, and an elastic band connecting the armsadjacent to said cross bar for normally holding the arms closed andcoacting with the cross bar in gripping articles.

In testimony whereof I afiix mv signature.

HERBERT o. STARKEY. [L.s.]

